They made the decision that day, I'm pretty sure that was the point of the meeting. I live in Mobile, and didn't hear a word about a South Alabama football until Nick Saban showed up and set the spring game attendance record, and was on his way to a #1 recruiting class.
As to the Senior Bowl roster, may be I get their cheerleaders and their players confused. It's not easy always easy to find Senior Bowl info (I have a few jerseys and jackets) so I'll just concede that point to you. I thought I saw one (not that he did anything) last year, but shows you how much I follow them...
Edit: I got out my 2011 program and they had the South Alabama mascot, cheerleaders, marching band, and a player from South Alabama in the game. They also had a Joey Jones interview in the program. The whole thing struck me as overkill, especially considering I've never seen Big Al, the million dollar band, or Alabama cheerleaders there (they brought in the Philadelphia cheerleaders before, not that I minded). Ma be it just skewed my perspective and recollection, because that year was most certainly a South Alabama love fest.